Vigo County Historical Society

The circus brought entertainment, excitement to town

The circus is coming! The circus is coming!

Eager faces lined the sidewalks; mothers tightly clutched small hands as the huge gold trimmed yellow and red calliope drawn by four magnificent prancing horses rolled slowly down the street. The trains had pulled into the railroad yards early that morning; roustabouts had unloaded the animals, tents and equipment; the tents had been routed to the circus grounds; the Big Top had been set up and the bleacher seats installed. The row of sideshow tents were ready, gaudy banners flapping in the breeze, small stages in front of each where the barkers paced and shouted about the wondrous mysteries to be found inside. Then it was time for the elephants, tigers, lions, acrobats, clowns and the circus band to parade behind the calliope from the railroad yards to the circus grounds.

Yes, that was how it used to be when the circus came to town.

The first circus opened in the United States in 1793 in Philadelphia. It was patterned after the English circus, held inside the amphitheater and featured equestrians and acrobats. At the turn of the century the circus was brought to the rural populations by traveling shows performing outdoors. By 1826, tents were being used, and the Big Top was born.

Dr. Gilbert R. Spalding and Charles J. Rogers, owners of a circus, had a magnificent showboat built in Cincinnati in 1851. This was a much more efficient and less expensive way of transporting performers and animals, and the equipment was in place for each performance. The "Floating Palace," as it was named, was 100 feet long, 30 feet wide and was towed by a small steamboat, the James Raymond. It was painted bright red and gold, and when it pulled into Terre Haute, its calliope blaring loudly, the townspeople, farmers and frontiersmen rushed to the Wabash River to see it.

Terre Haute performances were at 2 and 7 p.m. on April 23, 1853. Admission was 35 cents for gallery and cushioned seats and 50 cents for armed chairs. During the Civil War, the Floating Palace was taken over by Confederate troops and used as a military hospital, and later was captured by Federal troops. It was never revived as a circus showboat.

From 1870 through the 1920s, famous names of the circus and Wild West show owners were Buffalo Bill Cody, Annie Oakley, P.T. Barnum, James A. Bailey, the Ringling Brothers, the Campbell Brothers, Adam Forepaugh and the Sells Brothers. Competition was fierce among P.T. Barnum, James A. Bailey and the Ringling Brothers, until the Barnum and Bailey Circus merged in 1880, and 40 years later merged with the Ringling Brothers Circus. In the 1930s Clyde Beatty, wild animal trainer and movie star, forms his own exciting circus, which was popular and well attended when it came to Terre Haute.

In the 1850s, the circus would set up on Eighth Street just north of College, but as the city expanded, the circus grounds moved to 19th and Wabash Avenue. The circus would come into town on the various trains and unload at the different railroad yards. The New York Central would unload at Sixth and Tippecanoe streets, the C&EI at 10th and Ohio streets, and the Pennsylvania at 25th and Locust streets, thus creating neighborhood memories that have faded as years pass by.

With the changes in transportation, the beautiful horse-drawn circus wagons and brightly pained trains have way to semi trucks and mobile homes, which could pull up to the circus site to unload, and the excitement of the circus parades was a thing of the past. About 1970, the big circuses made the decision to give up the Big Top and perform only in cities with large arenas.

Now the Shrine Circus comes to the Hulman Center in Terre Haute annually, and an occasional small circus will give a performance at the fairgrounds.

The Vigo County Historical Museum will be displaying circus memorabilia beginning

July 7. Visit the museum and see the many items to bring back that feeling of nostalgia from bygone circus days. On July 21, the museum is sponsoring a trip by Turner Coaches to Peru to see both the annual Circus Parade and a circus performance. For details and reservations, call (812) 235-9717.

The Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley, 1411 S. Sixth St., is open from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Previous articles may be found on the society’s Web site at web.indstate.edu/community/vchs.